


A Perfect Gift

by SonjaJade



Series: The Rook and the Bluebird [8]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Birth, F/M, Labor and Delivery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 17:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8721739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: It's somebody's birthday today!





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was sitting on my hard drive for a long while and I just rediscovered it. I used to RP with a Maria on tumblr and she had some kind of prompt dare put in her inbox that we had a baby and we decided together on a boy named Henry. This is just a written out account of that whole idea. Also it shows a little bit of Braeda's personality that was impossible to see in the series. When I started RPing as him, I had to define his character a lot more, with complex backstories and all of that. He's a big softy when it comes to kids. Being born a bastard and not having a father figure around, he can't wait to have a family of his own. He's also very religious (or was, he doesn't practice his faith as much as he used to, but he was raised in what we might think of as a churchy family). So when Henry's born, he's a bit of a sobbing, god-praising mess lol.

As the nurse led him to Maria’s room, he couldn’t help but be giddy.  This was the day he’d been waiting over half his life for, and now it was finally here.  
  
“You’ll have to wash your hands and put on this gown, Capt. Braeda,” she said sweetly.  
  
He scrubbed his skin under scalding water and hurried to dry them and tug the gown on.  The kind, grey headed nurse tittered beside him.  “She’s not going anywhere, no need to hurry!  Besides, your little one is still down in the nursery getting cleaned up!”  
  
“Right,” he said, beaming.  “I’m just excited to meet my son!”  
  
“As is mommy.  Alright, let me take a look at ya.”  She checked him to be sure everything was tied and tidy, then patted his biceps.  “Mrs. Braeda’s going to be exhausted, but she’s just as excited as you are.  Be gentle to her, she spent the last thirty hours working very hard.”  
  
He took a deep breath.  “Yes, ma’am.”  He followed her into a room that held two beds, the first one made and ready for another new mother, and the one just past that containing his tired and swollen wife.  Her hair looked soaked with sweat, but she was just as beautiful to him as she was at the altar.  
  
“Hey,” she grinned weakly.  
  
“Hey yourself, sweetheart,” he murmured as he leaned down to kiss her.  He sat beside her bed and took her hand in his.  “I heard he’s a whopper!”  
  
“Nine and a half pounds!” she crowed.  “No doubt he takes after his father!”  
  
They laughed together for a bit at that, then he brushed her hair out of her eyes.  “You were amazing.  I kept checking on you, hoping they’d just let me in there with you, but no dice.”  
  
Maria squeezed his fingers and closed her eyes as she responded.  “The attending nurse told me you were trying your damnedest to get in.  She said she admired your conviction, but really wished you’d just go home and get some rest.”  
  
“Not when Henry was on his way.”  He glanced toward the door.  “How long do you think it will be before we can meet him?”  
  
She shook her head.  “I’m not sure.  They were stitching me up when they whisked him off to the nursery for a bath.”  
  
“Did you get to see him at all before they took him away?” he asked excitedly.  
  
She grinned.  “Head full of red hair.  He’s got a healthy set of lungs on him, for sure.  Looked a little like a balled up turkey covered in cranberry sauce and wailing like a fire engine!”  
  
Braeda shook his head.  “Not even an hour old and already teasing him!”  
  
There was a knock at the door and then a nurse came backing into the room before turning around and pushing a cart toward them.  Braeda’s heart began to race inside his chest.  
  
“Sorry it took so long, we couldn’t figure out how to comb his hair- he’s got a double crown!” she said, pointing at her own hair.  “Here is your little lad's big debut,” she said as she gathered the swaddling and the baby up from the bassinette.  She gingerly handed the newborn to Maria, saying, “He’s very hungry, let me show you how to get him to latch on.”  
  
Braeda watched as the woman pulled Maria’s gown open and allowed mother and son to get comfortable, then showed his wife how to guide her breast to Henry’s mouth, and the rest took care of itself.  
  
“You’ll know he’s finished when he stops sucking.  Wipe his mouth and cover back up, and you’ll be right as rain, the both of you.”  She told them to call the nurse’s station is there was any questions and she’d be back in a flash, and then she left them to bond as a family.  
  
Maria talked softly to their little boy as he ate, stroking his cheek with her finger and examining his tiny features carefully.  “He’s got your eyes,” she said in an awed voice.  “The shape of your brow, see?”  
  
“Looks like he got your nose, thank heavens,” he whispered, listening to Henry’s soft grunts as he suckled.  His face reddened.  “Does it… does it feel the same?  Like when I…”  
  
Maria shook her head.  “Nope.  This doesn’t do anything for me in the least.”  She scowled at him.  “Shame on you for thinking such things.”  
  
“No!” he said, putting his hands up defensively.  “I didn’t mean it like that, I just wanted to know if there was a difference in sensation!”  He apologized and went back to watching his son eat his first meal.  And then he spit his mother’s nipple out and stretched a little.  Maria made sure Henry was wrapped warmly, then she looked into Braeda’s eyes.  
  
“Would you like to hold him?”  
  
He thought she’d never ask.  He reached out, not knowing what to expect, having never held a newborn before.  What if he didn’t hold him tight enough?  What if he held him _too_ tight?  As it turned out, he seemed to have an instinct for it as much as Maria did.  He fit right into the crook of his arm, his tiny little butt resting in the entirety of his palm.  He seemed to snuggle into his blankets before turning his head to burrow into the gown Braeda wore, his eyes blinking heavily.  
  
“Breathe, honey,” Maria reminded him.  
  
He grinned as he did as he was told.  “You’re no bigger than a kitten!” he said quietly to his son.  Henry grunted a little before opening his eyes fully.  Dark blue irises gazed back at him, and a tiny, sleepy smile bloomed on his lips.  
  
Braeda couldn’t help it.  Tears started falling and he just couldn’t contain his joy any longer.  He counted his fingers, inventoried his tiny toes, and nearly sobbed when his hand curled around his pinkie.  
  
“He’s absolutely perfect,” he sniffled.  
  
“Yes.  We make pretty babies together, don’t we?”  He felt her put her hand on his knee.  
  
“I want a dozen of them,” he said watching the muscles in Henry's arm relax as his grip on his father's finger began to weaken.  
  
“Give me a chance to get over the trauma of having one before you start thinking about any more of them,” Maria warned.  
  
Braeda chuckled.  “I can’t believe you kept something this size in your body and didn’t crush it, like the weight of your organs and the force of walking and all that.  It’s truly a miracle.  I’m so proud of you, and grateful, and I love you so much.”  
  
“I love you too, Hey,” she whispered.  She pointed down at their little boy, who was fast asleep in his daddy’s big arm.  He nearly cried at the sight, and Maria teased him for turning on the waterworks again.  She tugged two tissues from the bedside table and handed him one, wiping her own eyes with the other.  
  
“I need to sleep,” she said.  “He’ll be up again soon and I’m already exhausted.  Call the guys and let them know, and tell them no visitors ‘til late tomorrow.  I’m gonna try to sleep as much as I can while we’re at the hospital.  I’m sure he won’t mind some of the wet nurses’ flavor while I heal up a little.”  
  
Braeda insisted that he be allowed to hold his son for just a little longer, and Maria made no move to deny him the luxury.  Eventually, after several hours, he carried Henry while he flagged down a nurse to take him back to the nursery.  She helped him change the first diaper, then placed him back into the basinette.  
  
“Good night, my sweet angel.  I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said, making sure he was warmly covered. Braeda bent and kissed his little head, and the nurse wheeled him away.  
  
He kissed Maria and stroked her hair a bit.  She stirred awake, but he reassured her everything was fine.  “Rest.  If you need help in the shower, I can do that when I come back.”  
  
She squeezed his hand.  “You rest too.  Sleeping in a waiting room chair isn’t good for your back.  And Henry and I are in good hands, don’t worry about a thing.”  
  
A final kiss and he turned the light out for her.  After walking down to the nursery and taking some pictures of Henry among the other babies, he went home, calling Havoc and letting him know the good news and asking him to spread it while he got some shut eye.  After hanging up, he quickly undressed, opting to sleep in his boxers.  But before he climbed into bed, he did something he hadn’t done since he was a boy living at home with his mother.  
  
He fell to his knees and made the sign of the holy salutation over his chest, and then clasped his hands in prayer.  
  
“Thank you, God,” he said, tears returning.  “Thank you for a beautiful baby boy, a beautiful and strong wife, and for keeping them both safe today during the delivery.  Thank you so much.”  
  
He made the salutation symbol again, then got up, wiping at his eyes, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.


End file.
